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Reaction to the proposed changes to the statutory scheme to control the costs of branded health service medicines

Warwick Smith, Director General of Medicines UK and the British Biosimilars Association (BBA), said: "We appreciate that the Government has tried to reconcile different and conflicting comments from different respondents about the impact of competition in the pricing of medicines for the NHS. However, it is clear that the Government has failed fully to reflect that competition drives greater savings and value for the NHS than unnecessary intervention in the market that can blunt the positive effects of competition. 
 
"We continue fundamentally to believe that the Government should not intervene in pricing when there are already effective mechanisms such as competition or tenders to control prices of branded generics and biosimilars. We do not believe that some of the arguments advanced by the Government stand up to scrutiny. We believe it bizarre to be advised to increase our tender prices so that we can pay a rebate on our revenues instead of simply charging lower prices. 
 
"We do, however, welcome the Government's commitment to revisit some of these issues in the annual reviews of the statutory scheme should they perceive changes in market conditions."